He didn't lead them to a Stanley Cup, but came closer than anyone else since 1967. Here are this hockey scribe's favourite Gilmour memories:

- Jan. 2, 1992, when Cliff Fletcher made the 10-player deal with Calgary. We write that Fletcher "fleeced" Calgary counterpart Doug Risebrough and a colleague scolds us for using such a strong word on a deal he thinks will break even.

"I know these new guys well," Fletcher said of the swap. "I would never make a deal of this magnitude if I wasn't sure."

- Gilmour's uncanny ability to saucer passes to teammates in traffic. Almost everyone wanted to be on his line upon arrival and would converge on the net to feed at the trough.

- A starring role in the Leafs Are The Best video, amidst the wooden dance moves of his teammates and the jiggling models. Also, donning cow's legs in a poster campaign for milk.

- Emaciated and playing 20-plus minutes every second night through three seven-game series in 1993.

- Coming off the ice, changing clothes and taking a tunnel under the room, through the Hot Stove and on to Carlton St. just minutes after a game. Reporters swore he wore a suit and tie under his jersey.

- Playing in Switzerland during the 1994-95 lockout. He was up 36 straight hours on the flight from Toronto to Zurich, went through two practices, two press conferences and a photo shoot and still had enough energy for a round of music trivia with the Toronto media at the hotel bar.

- A master practical joker, with Tie Domi usually his favourite target. On Halloween, he'd buy a pumpkin, jam Domi's big helmet over it and put his friend's name on it.

- The famous double OT goal on Curtis Joseph and the Blues in '93.

- Trying to hold it together at the press conference when he was traded to the Devils.